HARRISBURG — On Tuesday, the School Safety and Security Committee, of which Rep. Jason Ortitay (R-Washington/Allegheny) is a member, awarded $40 million in School Safety and Security Grants to school districts, vocational schools and community violence prevention groups across the state, including Burgettstown Area, Trinity Area and West Allegheny.

The 17-member committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency was created as part of Act 44 of 2018, a comprehensive school safety law passed in 2018. One of its duties is to help distribute the two-phase $52.5 million grant program. In the first portion, which was awarded late last year, each school district that applied received $25,000 for safety initiatives, including school safety assessments, security equipment, trainings and to hire school resource officers. The second part, which was awarded this week, was a competitive program.

“I’m pleased we were able to distribute this funding in less than a year to help schools throughout our Commonwealth to increase safety and security,” Ortitay said. “The timing is especially important as districts finalize their budgets for the 2019-20 school year. This is just a first step. We now need to evaluate what further action is needed.”

Those receiving grants are:
• Burgettstown Area School District – $122,762.
• Trinity Area School District – $60,056.
• West Allegheny School District – $89,243.

The 46th Legislative District includes Collier and South Fayette townships and Bridgeville, Heidelberg, McDonald and Oakdale boroughs in Allegheny County. It also encompasses Canton, Cecil, Mt. Pleasant, Robinson and Smith townships and Burgettstown, McDonald and Midway boroughs in Washington County.